10 World’s Most Expensive and Rare Stamps

If you are one of those, who love to collect postage stamps, here is a post that will make you say “Aww.” Herein, we have featured 10 World’s Most Expensive and Rare Stamps.

Believe it or not, the hobby of collecting stamps is known as the ‘Mother of all Hobbies.’

In fact, there are numerous stamp enthusiasts all around the globe. And one thing is common among them that are they all like and admire rare and expensive stamps.

However, rare stamps are certainly ‘rare.’

They are singled out as the most valuable stamps that are most expensive stamps as well.

People are willing to shell millions of dollars just to acquire a rare postage stamp. In fact, rare stamps speak of a time and place that has been lost forever.

Moreover, postage stamps go on to reflect the history and priorities of the nation that issued them. Furthermore, stamps have always been an instrument for nations for defining their cultural identity. Persons get immortalized if they are featured on a postage stamp.

The history of postage stamps is quite old. The first postage stamps were issued in 1840. Since then, the geography of the world has changed a lot. Some of the states that issued those stamps no longer exist. These include the Kingdom of Hawaii, the Confederate States of America, and former colonies in North America and Africa.

By collecting stamps, one gets to learn a lot about world history and geography. Moreover, some countries issued low denomination stamps solely for the collector’s market.

However, the question still lingers that what makes a postage stamp rare, valuable and expensive. In most cases, a stamp gets the tag of a ‘rare stamp’ from its scarcity value and the fascinating history that surrounds it. If a stamp is a one-of-a-kind stamp, it is dubbed as a ‘rare stamp.’

So, if you too are a stamp enthusiast and want to know more about rare stamps, then this post will be an eye-opener for you. Here, we have listed some of the World’s Most Expensive and Rare Stamps.

Get ready to drench yourself in the nostalgia of rare and expensive stamps.

Here’s the list for you.

We hope that one day you get a chance to witness these rare stamps in real. Perhaps the post instills in you that urge that is ever so visible in every stamp lover across the globe. The love for most rare stamps still lives on, and that’s precisely the reason we have come up with this post.

Let’s have a look at the Most Expensive and Rare Stamps.

10 Top Most Expensive and Rare Stamps

10. Basel Dove

The list of most expensive and rare stamps begins with the Basel Dove Stamp which was issued by the Canton of Basel in Switzerland on 1st July 1845. The stamp had a face value of 2.5 rappen and was the first tricolor stamp in the world. The Basel Dove Stamp features a white dove carrying a letter in its beak.

It was designed by architect Melchior Berri. It is printed using black, crimson, and blue colors. About 42,000 stamps were printed in the series. The postal stamp was eventually withdrawn in 1854. The Basel Dove Stamp is now worth around $20,000.

9. Penny Black

The Penny Black is another very rare and expensive postal stamp. It has the status of being the first adhesive postal stamp in the world. The postage stamp was introduced in Britain in 1840. Rowland Hill, the ‘father of postal stamps,’ was instrumental in launching this postage stamp. The Penny Black stamp features the profile of the British Queen Victoria on a black background.

The face value of the stamp was one penny. However, the stamp was withdrawn in a year because the cancellation mark was not visible in the black background. The stamps of this series are very rare and are estimated to be about $3000. Some unused sheets of Penny Black stamp can be found at the British Postal Museum.

8. The Whole Country is Red

It is one of the rarest stamps in the world. It is a Chinese stamp which was issued in 1968, during the famous Cultural Revolution. The stamp had a face value of 8 fens. It was noted for its printing error. The postage stamp depicted the expansion of Communism in China. It was designed by Wang Weisheng.

The stamp showed the Chinese map in red color and carried the picture of a farmer, a worker, and a soldier who held the copies of Little Red Book (Selected Works of Chairman Mao). The map of Taiwan which was under the Chinese rule was shown in white color. The error was spotted by an editor of SinoMaps Press, and the stamps were immediately recalled. They have the status of being the rarest postage stamps now.

7. The Hawaiian Missionaries

The Hawaiian Missionaries are amongst the rarest postal stamps in the world. They were issued in 1851 by the then Kingdom of Hawaii. These stamps were issued in three denominations – 2 cents, 5 cents, and 13 cents. However, the 2 cent version is the rarest among the three, with only 15 of them remaining now.

They came to be known as Missionaries because most of them were found on the correspondence between Hawaiian Missionaries. All these stamps used blue paper of cheap quality. The stamps featured the numeral of the denomination in the center and the denomination in words at the bottom. The two and five cents stamps carried the phrase ‘Hawaiian Postage’ while ‘H.I. & U.S. Postage was inscribed on the 13 cent stamps.

6. Tyrian Plum

The Tyrian Plum is another very rare postage stamp. Britain issued it in 1910. The postage stamp featured King Edward VII. It had the face value of two pence. As much as 24 million such stamps were printed. However, due to the unexpected demise of the King in May that year, almost all of the stamps were destroyed. Now, only a few of these stamps exist. The only used stamp can be found in the Royal Philatelic Collection.

5. Canada 12-pence Black

The stamp is one of the rarest now. It was issued in 1851 and is also known as the Black Empress of Canada. This stamp features the profile of Queen Victoria. It was based on the Queen’s portrait drawn by Alfred Edward Chalon. Nearly fifty thousand copies were printed, but only small numbers of them were sold.

In 1857, unsold stamps were withdrawn and destroyed. As of now, only a little more than 100 of these stamps exist. Each of these stamps is estimated to be worth about $500,000.

4. Inverted Jenny

The Inverted Jenny is popularly called as Upside Down Jenny. It is a United States postage stamp and has a face value of 24 cents. These stamps were launched on 10th May 1918. These stamps have a printing error that makes them famous and rare.

The stamp has the image of the Curtiss JN-4 airplane upside-down. As of now, only 100 such stamps with the error exist now. At an auction in 2007, a single inverted Jenny stamp was sold for $977,500.

3. Mauritius ‘Post Office’

These are one of the rarest stamps ever. The Mauritius ‘Post Office’ Stamps were issued in 1847 in Mauritius when it was a British colony. These stamps were issued in two denominations – one penny which was orange-red in color, and two pence with dark blue color.

The stamps featured the profile of Queen Victoria. The words ‘Post Office’ were inscribed on them. The stamps came into prominence in 1864. As of now, only 26 specimens of the stamp exist. They are valued at a whopping figure of $4 million.

2. Treskilling Yellow

The Treskilling Yellow is a Swedish stamp issued in 1855. It comes second in the list of most expensive and rare stamps in the world. It even held the record for the highest price for a single postal stamp in the auction. It was auctioned for $2.3 million in 1996.

The stamp is the only one of its kind. It was discovered by a philatelist named Georg Wilhelm Baeckman in 1886. Its fame is due to the printing error.

1. British Guiana 1c Magenta

The British Guiana 1c Magenta is regarded as the most valuable and rarest stamp in the world. The stamp was sold for $9.5 million in an auction in 2014. Now, only a single specimen of this stamp exists in the world. The stamp is in the shape of an octagon.

The stamp was issued by former British Guiana in 1856. Only limited copies of this stamp were issued. It shows a sailing ship. The motto ‘Damus Petimus Que Vicissim’ (We give and expect in return) is inscribed on it. The stamp was discovered in 1873 by a Scottish schoolboy named Louis Vernon Vaughan. It has been mentioned in various films as a prized object.

It’s been an overwhelming experience to present the list on 10 World’s Most Expensive and Rare Stamps. We hope that you liked the post. Don’t forget to share with your friends and loved ones. We welcome your comments and suggestions.

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(1) comment

Maria Delia Coppick

I have this stamps someone gave it to me I really don’t know how much worth of this. It’s old from 1940 . One album from United States all different kinds of stamps. I want to sell it but I don’t know where I can find the buyer I am living here in Florida. Thank you